Palm Beach County government pushing solar energy

Palm Beach County is pushing for federal funding to explore ways to encourage local homes and businesses to tap into solar energy.

Palm Beach County is pushing for federal funding to explore ways to encourage local homes and businesses to tap into solar energy. (Some rights reserved by Living Off Grid)

Andy Reid

Solar panels could help power the Palm Beach County Governmental Center in a bid to encourage more local homes and businesses to turn to alternative energy.

The county is participating in the federal government’s "Rooftop Solar Challenge," which offers grants of up to $750,000 aimed at promoting solar energy.

The county is teaming with Florida Power and Light Co. to develop a proposal for how it would put the money to use to encourage others to tap into alternative energy.

The program through the U.S. Department of Energy is geared toward making solar energy more affordable and accessible to businesses and the public.

Palm Beach County plans to use the money to: look for ways to streamline the permitting process for installing solar panels, assess the current solar market, work with FPL to improve “interconnection standards” and create a plan to improve the local solar market.

County Commission Chairwoman Karen Marcus said she wants the county to lead by example and put solar panels on top of the county’s main office building at 301 N. Olive Ave. in downtown West Palm Beach.

Solar panels are not a new idea for local government.

In 2009, the county’s Green Taskforce after a year-long review also called for the county to use more solar energy as an alternative fuel for public facilities.